JAMA: A review of medical literature suggests older age at menopause was
associated with a lower risk of depression for women in later life.
Eleni Th Petridou, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., of the National and Kapodistrian
University of Athens, Greece, and coauthors included 14 studies in a
meta-analysis that represented nearly 68,000 women. Study results
suggest menopause at age 40 or older compared with premature menopause
was associated with a decreased risk for depression (four studies; 3,033
unique participants). Older age at menopause and a longer reproductive
period mean a longer exposure to endogenous estrogens. “This
meta-analysis suggests a potentially protective effect of increasing
duration of exposure to endogenous estrogens as assessed by age at
menopause as well as by the duration of the reproductive period. … If
confirmed in prospective and culturally diverse studies controlling for
potential confounders and assessing depression via psychiatric
evaluation, these findings could have a significant clinical effect by
allowing for the identification of a group of women at higher risk for
depression who may benefit from psychiatric monitoring or estrogen-based
therapies,” the authors conclude.
